It is not the most wonderful time of the year just yet, and I am not quite sure I was ready for Hannah Waddingham: Home for Christmas, an all-singing, all-dancing, all-showbiz display of festive razzle dazzle. If you ever wondered what it was like to see the cast of Ted Lasso, in various shades of sparkles, not in character but not quite themselves, perform a Christmas song or do a skit in front of an enormous Christmas tree and an 18-piece band, don’t worry, Apple has got your back.
This is an old-fashioned, variety-ish show, filmed at the Coliseum in London, “the place that I call home,” Waddingham explains. Her mother, who is in the crowd, was a mezzo there for years, and she spent much of her childhood in one of the boxes. It’s the first misty-eyed moment of many. In a series of spectacular gowns, she chats to the crowd, gets emotional, belts out solo numbers and duets with the likes of Hamilton’s Leslie Odom Jr, Sam Ryder and the actor Luke Evans, introduces the London Gay Men’s Chorus and the Fabulous Lounge Swingers, all the while shimmying and swishing across the stage.
